James,

I think EasyPIC2 ia a great board to start with.

Quote Originally Posted by Nicksterjack
If I get the easy pic 2 It has a usb programmer built in correct?
correct

Also what about there free pic programming software. How is it different from Picbasicpro?
The free PIC programming software is no compiler,
it is a piece of software that controls the on-board programmer
and it is required to load a HEX-file onto the PIC.


a free demo version of PicBasicPro can be found here

A great tool is Microcode Studio
(Download the demo version)
The "plus" version is worth every single cent.

A free demo version of MikroBasic can be found here

If you prefer a "rock-solid" compiler the choice is PBP
There are tons of code examples on the web and there is great support
(on this forum and many other places).